Various types of containers are designed to hold beverages, from cans and bottles, to cardboard boxes and wooden casks. Liquid may be stored in large containers and transferred to relatively smaller containers for consumption via a spout, hose, facet, tap, or fountain. Such transfer methods fill a serving container from the top of the serving container, or through the surface of the filled liquid in the serving container. However, filling a serving container from the top may increase foam of carbonated beverages. To reduce the foam, a user generally pours out the excess from the serving container, thereby wasting liquid. Alternatively, a user may wait for the foam to settle, which requires extra serving time and attention.
Accordingly, top filling methods generally require a server to perform a number of actions, including properly positioning the serving container, starting the flow of liquid, stopping the flow of liquid, and removing the serving container, each action requiring coordination and usually physical contact with the serving container during the filling process. Moreover, transfer devices for top filling methods often take a large amount of space on a counter or serving area, and require attention to operate and control.
The following references relate to containers and devices for bottom-up filling: International Publication No. WO 2007/102139 to Charles, and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2008/0223478 to Hantsoo et al., each of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety into this application.